Clannad Busters! クラナドバスターズ!
by sixsixfour
Summary: Title says it all. Mashup of two wonderful Key stories.


"Kyousuke's back!"

A voice rang clear through the night.

It wasn't so clear, however, to a half-asleep Naoe Riki. What he immediately recognized was a loud thud on the floor of the room he shared with Inohara Masato, the muscle man. He was so heavy his drop on the floor sounded a like truck hittting the bed so it instantly roused Riki. He got up.

"What are you doing so early in the morning?'

"Haven't you heard?" said Masato in a voice low but trembling with excitement. "Kyousuke's arrived."

"So?"

"I'm off!" He ran out to the hallway.

It took Riki a few more minutes to register everything into his mind just fresh from sleep. But as soon as he heard the machine-gun report of kicking from the cafeteria just downstairs, he understood. It was another of his friends, Sakagami Tomoyo.

"So..." he muttered answering his own question, "...he went off to fight." He knew it. Kyousuke told Masato not to challenge Tomoyo while he was away looking for work. Even now he was amazed at how much power Kyousuke had even over a brute like Masato.

Hits: 450... 475... 499...

When Riki entered the cafeteria, a throng of onlookers (and cheerers) had gathered. He was too slow. Masato was already having a beating from Tomoyo's 500-hit kicks.

"Masato!" he cried in his squeaky voice.

He squeezed through the crowd, and when he finally got through, his buddy was sprawled over a broken table. But he was too tough. All those years of muscle workout wasn't all for nothing. He got up with a struggle, but as soon as he was up, a broad grin split his bruised face in half.

She touched her forehead in exasperation. _He's a little hard. _"Aren't you giving up? Stop right now for your own good."

"My own good, hah?" He spat and chuckled low. Then, he charged. "I'm just starting to feel good! Yahhh!"

But the ruler of the streets was too fast and handily dodged all his strikes. In return, she put another hard foot at his neck, bending it at an unnatural angle. This was getting nowhere. Riki was becoming quite distraught over the affair. "Somebody put a halt to this!"

"Well," said an onlooker, "you're his roommate, right? Why don't you be the one to come between them?"

"Hah?" He was lost. He didn't quite expect someone would actually suggest someone as frail as him try to stop two crashing boulders. He clutched his head in despair. He could think of no other way. He could think of no other name. "Kyousuke!" he finally gasped. "Where's Kyousuke? Where? Did you see him?"

"Kyousuke?' pondered one of the girls. "Ah! I think I just saw him over there." She pointed.

Riki followed the direction she indicated, and true enough, there on a table slept Natsume Kyousuke, the leader. No one else could be as dependable as him. He was only a year ahead, but the rest of the team looked up to him as a veteran.

"Kyousuke!" said Riki desperately shaking his shoulders. "They will get seriously hurt if you don't do something. Please!"

"Oh..." he answered groggily. "It's you, Riki."

"Stop them! Now!"

"I'm sorry," he followed hoarsely, "I haven't got much sleep last night."

"But this is an emergency! They will both end up at the hospital at this rate. And kicked out, too!" And his uniform looks somewhat dirty and worn. Where had he been?

"What are you so worked up about?" he just said.

He got up wearily and eyed the scene through drowsy eyes. But he could clearly make out what was going on. He cleared his throat and called out in a booming voice. "Everybody!"

All of them stopped dead at that voice. However, Tomoyo and Masato kept their fighting stance.

"Are you going to stop us?" called Tomoyo. "It's too late, he's already primed up. This must continue to the bitter end."

"I'm not going to stop you. I must only lay down some rules to resolve your conflict without any danger." He gazed at the entirety of the crowd to address them all. "When it comes to a fistfight, Masato is too powerful. But Tomoyo is using her kicks in fighting. Therefore, we must give each of them something they're both not good at. Throw them anything you could find! The more worthless, the better. Whatever they get will be their weapon."

The crowd stared at him for a moment, but someone suddenly threw a pingpong ball. It was a signal to the rest. At once a rain of random items—shoes, toys, balls, bananas (bananas?), books, and assorted other stuff rained on the two contenders. Tomoyo got an air pistol.

Masato got... a wooden starfish carving...

"Huh...?" Tomoyo stared at him unbelievingly.

Masato only hissed. "You got a problem with this? I'll make sure I'll pound you to pulp with the power of starfish until you're nothing but pixels!" He charged. "Iyaahhh!"

Battle start!

* * * SAKAGAMI TOMOYO VS. INOHARA MASATO * * *

Tomoyo attacks!

Tomoyo shoots airgun pellets at Masato!

Masato was hit by the airgun pellets!

0 damage

0 damage

0 damage

0 damage

0 damage

"Hah!" boasted Masato. "Is this too much child's play for you? Hahaha! My turn!"

Masato attacks!

Tomoyo is hit by the starfish carving!

4 damage

4 damage

4 damage

4 damage

"Hahahahahah!" he deliriously laughed. "You don't know how to use anything but your feet! I will win in this!"

Tomoyo turned irritably to Kyousuke. "Can't I just hit him with this?"

"Nope. Use it as it is meant to be used."

Tomoyo gritted her teeth in frustration. "Well, then, I must do something drastic."

Tomoyo attacks!

Tomoyo hits Masato with pellets in his eyes.

Masato flinches .

5 damage

5 damage

5 damage

5 damage

5 damage

5 damage

5 damage

Tomoyo runs out of pellets!

"Tch," she uttered. "This is just bad." She reloads.

Masato attacks!

Tomoyo is hit by the starfish carving!

4 damage

4 damage

4 damage

4 damage

4 damage

4 damage...

"_That's my starfish!"_

Everybody, including Tomoyo and Masato, instantly hushed at the terrifying sound that outranked the cheers of the crowd. The people made way, and there stood Sunohara Mei, replesendent in her long, flowing bluish hair.

"Stop picking on the weak!"

"Huh?" mused Masato. He turned to his opponent. "Say, is she talking about you?'

"Really, now?" retorted Tomoyo. "You yourself should testify to the vast gulf in our abilities."

"I mean the starfish!" cried Mei grabbing the thing away from Masato. "How dare you take on an inaminate object just like that!"

"Give it back, Mei!" roared Masato. "I'm already on my way to beating the life out of her!"

"Why did you even fight in the first place?" demanded Mei.

"I was just trying to know if she was really a girl because she was too strong."

"That's a dumb reason," murmured a facepalming Riki.

Tomoyo kept haranguing Masato. "You kept saying such stupid things as, 'Don't you find the boy's toilet smelly?' Trying to trick me to see if I'd come in and actually use the place!"

"What's more, I tried flattering her with such things as, 'That headband looked so cute on you,' and she didn't even blush, just said 'Thank you' and that's all! Any girl would pale at that remark. So she must be a guy, and I only wanted to confirm it."

"What do you expect me to say? 'O Masato, you are so awesome, I never thought you'd think me so lovely'?" She sighed and decided it wasn't worth it anymore. She turned to Mei. "It's clear to you who's in the wrong." She turned away. "See you," she finally said as she left.

"Hey, you're not getting away! We have a score to—"

_Ow!_

Mei kicked him in the knee. He bent to stay the shaking of his legs. "You must apologize first for using my starfish!" said Mei.

Masato gnashed his teeth in anger at her. He got up. "I won't go easy on you just because you're the youngest of us." To the rest, "Give me a real weapon, now!"

And true enough, people started throwing them things again. Masato got something. A three-section staff!

Masato roared in delirious laughter. "Now you're finished!"

Mei got... Aunt Akiko's jam.

Everbody in the crowd hushed. Masato was dumbfounded.

Mei smiled evilly. "In Soviet Russia..." she hissed in a low, venomous voice. And then— _"Jam eats you!"_

Masato lost all his will to fight. In great fear and trembling of knees, he threw away his staff and broke into a hasty run away from Mei. Everybody else funneled out of the cafeteria to follow them, hungry for a good fight.

Somehow, in spite of the commotion, Riki was refreshed. In fact, this sort of scene already seems to be normal for him. Since he was a freshman, his life with them has always been full of mischief... and fun.

That day, he lost his parents...

* * *

Under the blooming cherry trees at the foot of the hill leading to the school, he stood there, unable to move on. He had to repeat a year because of his narcolepsy so his old friends have all graduated, leaving him behind.

"Do you like this school?" he kept asking himself.

Nobody answered. He wasn't expecting. It was his problem, and his alone. No one would come to his aid. He is the only one to pick himself up. But it was too hard. It was too sad. He felt so down he could not see the beauty of the scenery all around him; the falling cherry petals were but dull scraps of paper trash blown in the wind.

"I like it very, very much. But..." A sense of loss gripped him. It was overwhelming. Finally, he conceded. "...But soon everything changes. At least it does eventually...

"...Fun things... happy things... They all... They all change someday."

Suddenly, he heard footsteps behind him. _What?_

"Just go and find more," said a voice cheerfully.

That warmth! That energy. Such a voice immediately pumped life back into his hungry heart that he audibly gasped and turned behind him with a start. Suddenly, everything regained its color, and the cherry petals fell gently as a beautiful shower of pink snow.

He found there four other students like him. The one who talked to him was a senior, but the rest were his age and year level. This... This was what he had been waiting for.

"We have a powerful enemy," said the lead guy with an invigorating smile. "We need your help."

Bewilderment caught him over this pronouncement, but he was too happy to bother that he let himself be pulled along as the group broke into a long, long uphill run. They were all about to be late.

The enemy happened to be the enormous, five-floor school building. They must get to the third floor on time, but running upstairs will cause a ruckus in the hallways that will earn the ire of teachers and roving student prefects.

So they decided to throw Mei, the youngest in the group, to the third floor. She would make an excuse for the rest of them once there.

"Come," beckoned the lead guy, who turned out to be Kyousuke, "put your arms here with us." So they could form a jump-pad, along with the powerful Tomoyo and the muscular Masato.

"Are you guys out of your mind?" he cried aghast even as he let his arms be locked in with theirs. "This is too dangerous!"

Too late. Mei had already angled herself on interlocked arms for the jump. She braced, and the others drew back.

"Wait!" shouted Riki. "Not yet!"

_Boom!_

Mei shot up... up... up...! Past the third floor and onto the roof! The jump was a little too successful!

In the end, all of them had to come in late and get a harangue from the teachers. Mei tried to break free of Kyousuke's grasp while the student prefects took a picture of the five of them in a group. It was embarrassing, but Riki could not help but feel a secret joy over finding new people to befriend.

In due time, his anguish over the loss of his parents had faded away.

* * *

The next morning at around six, the group sat down to a breakfast at the cafeteria. There weren't many people at that hour, so the atmosphere was rather subdued. Mei and Masato exchanged 'Good mornings' as though nothing had happened yesterday. Tomoyo was simply in her usual pensive mood.

The last to arrive was Kyousuke. "Ohayou," he muttered, and sat down to eat with the rest.

It was cold, and clouds have obscured the sunrise, but the cool wind blew gently and it was such a refreshing change of weather from last week's hot, sweltering days.

For a while they all ate in silence. Mei was even half-sleepy as she slept rather late last night, but the hot meal roused her little by little. Kyousuke simply hummed the old children's song 'Dango Daikazoku'. And all of them were busy enjoying their meal, except Riki. He wanted to say something to break the silence, but couldn't think of anything he felt could be appropriate for the moment.

Masato did it for him. "So you haven't found a job again?"

Kyousuke only smirked. "Well, I still have some money left over for my next job hunt."

"Heh," sneered Masato. "It's from last month. Seriously, I'm amazed how much you could penny-pinch your store. So how did you do it? Let me guess." He finished off his miso in a long slurp. "You walked to Tokyo again, am I right?"

Riki raised an eyebrow. No wonder he was such a mess yesterday. "Must be tough."

"Well," dismissed Kyousuke. "It's actually quite refreshing to do it on foot, you know."

Riki shrugged this off. "You certainly didn't look refreshed yesterday," he remarked.

"There's no need to be so concerned. Besides, I'm sure next year you'll be doing the same thing."

"At least not on foot," said Tomoyo.

"But we shouldn't be thinking of that right now," yawned Mei. "It's in the future."

"Of course," said Riki drily, "You are one not to watch out for your future."

"Eh?" retorted Mei, suddenly alert. "Why must I bother with something so distant? What matters is enjoying where you are right now."

"And by 'enjoying', you mean collecting out-of-place items like starfish carvings?"

"It's not out of place. It's cute. A cute girl gave it to me in the hallway last week."

"What cute girl? You sure take easily to total strangers."

"Let her revel in her fantasy world of youth," said Tomoyo. "In due time, she will see the light."

"And what light?" returned Mei. "You guys are such a killjoy."

"Unlike you, young girl, I have the student elections to worry about. I'll be very busy come next month."

"Don't call me 'young girl'! And don't say 'busy' either. It's such a dreary word."

"I don't want to think about the future, either," said Masato.

"Hah?" Riki turned at his unexpected remark. "You too?"

"Yay!" cheered Mei. "I knew it! Everyone should be happy, happy, happy! Teeheehee."

Riki, in contrast, sobered up. He twirled his chopsticks round and round his noodle soup. "I guess... I don't want to think about the future, too." He wanted to say something, but felt it was too cliché. He ended up keeping that innermost thought of his to himself.

As they walked down the covered walkway, Masato brought up the subject again. "I envy you, man. Once you get a job, all you have to do is sit back and relax waiting for the first day of work."

"It won't be so laid back as you think," chided Kyousuke. "Thinking about how you must adjust to a salaryman's lifestyle is already stressing in itself."

"The fact is," seconded Tomoyo. "The reason we're here in school is to groom ourselves precisely for the time we'll be going to work. The bossses will substitute for teachers, and we'll be struggling for wages rather than grades."

"So that means you'll be a politician when you graduate? 'Cause you are running for the student council."

Tomoyo frowned. "You are being foolish as always, Inohara Masato. I dislike the very word. 'Politician' indeed. I only ran for the council because I have something to protect."

"And what could that be?" complained Mei. "Like we are adults already?" She stood in the way of the group. "We should all enjoy every minute of our lives! We won't be young for very long."

Masato agreed with her. "We have been together for so long, but once we graduate, we'll go our separate ways. Better make the most of our time now."

Mei added, "If Kyousuke gets his job sooner, he'll be the first to go."

Kyousuke walked past the girl turning his back on the rest. He understood both sides, so he resolved to say something in favor of all. "If..." he said plaintively. "If only we could stay here in school forever."

Riki was startled. He wasn't very sure, but he thought he found some longing in Kyousuke's voice. Just the same feeling as his! And the very same words! _Those were the words I wanted to say back at breakfast. _It excited and emboldened him so that he spoke up. "Say, why don't we do something like in the old days?"

"What's with you all of sudden?" asked Tomoyo.

"We'd always go to places and play sports. Why don't we do something fantastic before Kyousuke graduates!"

Kyousuke bent down and picked something on the ground. It was... a wand. A prop used in fairy-tale plays. "Let's do drama."

"Eh?" uttered Masato.

"Hm?" said Tomoyo.

"A drama club.

"We will make a theater production. If we succeed, everybody in school will remember us fondly. We will be known by an honorable byword...

"Little Busters."

* * *

Author's Note: I won't be including everyone from both shows even though each character of Clannad and Little Busters! are definitely great in their own way. A mashup like this can hold only so many characters from the huge (immense, rather) cast of both worlds.


End file.
